AutoCAD - Dual Core Xeon 320GHz or Quad Core Xeon1.86GHz

[paul.43008]

We are a 100% 3D company and are purchasing new cad stations.
We are unsure about processors. Which would work best, the Dual Core Xeon 320GHz
or the Quad Core Xeon1.86GHz.

[Buffeldrek]

i thaught autocad still wasn't multithreathing - where only one core will be used to perform a calculation - programms like inventor wil use a second core or processor to calculate 2D drawings while you still will be able to continiue working on the other core...
so i doubt you'll have any performancegain with quadcore...

[sinc]

We are a 100% 3D company and are purchasing new cad stations.
We are unsure about processors. Which would work best, the Dual Core Xeon 320GHz
or the Quad Core Xeon1.86GHz.

I'd go with a Core 2 Duo, rather than a Xeon. MUCH better bang for the buck. Those Xeon chips are designed to work with ECC Registered memory and all that for ultimate reliability, but I haven't noticed it to be worth the price for Autocad. My new 2.67GHz Core 2 Duo beats the socks off my old 3.4GHz Xeon.

And yeah, Autocad usually only uses one side of dual-core processors, so a quad would really be a waste of money...

[madcadder]

I'd go with a Core 2 Duo, rather than a Xeon. MUCH better bang for the buck. Those Xeon chips are designed to work with ECC Registered memory and all that for ultimate reliability, but I haven't noticed it to be worth the price for Autocad. My new 2.67GHz Core 2 Duo beats the socks off my old 3.4GHz Xeon.

And yeah, Autocad usually only uses one side of dual-core processors, so a quad would really be a waste of money...

If you are all 3D all the time them you probably need to throw as much into video as you do the rest of the system. MINIMUM of a Quadro FX3500. Look into the FX 5500.

[Mike.Perry]

Hi "paul.43008"

Please note I have *moved* this thread from the AutoCAD 2007 General forum to this one, as I feel this particular forum is a more appropriate place for such a topic.

Thanks, Mike

Forum Manager

[margaretl]

I can't tell you which processor setup looks better, but I did see a comment about ACAD not using more than one processor. Something you may want to check out on the Autodesk web site is multithreading or multiprocessor capabilities. Also, in the help area of your CAD software lookup the whipthread system variable. This should put to rest the argument about ACAD taking advantage of more than one processor. I find a majority of the hang time I have is due to regenerations.